Palantir Technologies Inc. ( PLTR ) shares are trading higher Friday amid two overlapping developments that appear to be lifting investor interest in defense and intelligence-related equities.

What To Know: Reports of Israeli strikes on Iran have triggered renewed concerns about regional instability. That, in turn, is pushing defense-related stocks higher. Palantir ( PLTR ), whose software is widely used by U.S. military and intelligence agencies, is seen as potentially benefiting from any uptick in government spending on defense, intelligence analysis or security infrastructure according to Boomberg.

Moreover, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly announced its intent to expand its use of blockchain surveillance tools to track cryptocurrency-related crimes. According to federal procurement filings, ICE plans to make further purchases from companies like TRM Labs and Chainalysis, two of the major providers of blockchain forensics software.

Palantir ( PLTR ) has already been contracted by ICE earlier this year, signing a nearly $30 million deal to bolster the agency's digital enforcement tools. The timing of ICE's latest procurement efforts, alongside growing interest in blockchain analysis for law enforcement, is bringing renewed attention to Palantir's ( PLTR ) role as a key technology vendor in this space.

PLTR Price Action: Palantir ( PLTR ) shares were up 1.77% at $137.58 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.

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